Haley cautioned only that those people not staying on the Key should plan on taking the shuttles that will operate regularly from the parking area at Phillippi Estate Park, located at 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

“Really, the easiest thing is to stay on Siesta Key,” she said, and walk or bike to the beach.

Along with the larger crowd, another new facet for the 2011 Crystal Classic will be Wigelsworth’s creation of an 8- to 10-foot sand replica of the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, Va., which depicts Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi during World War II. Wigelsworth’s sculpture will be unveiled Nov. 10, during a ceremony marking the Marine Corps’ 236th birthday.

“They’re going to draw a lot of people on Thursday,” Haley said.

Eileen Parkinson, co-chair of the Crystal Classic with her husband, Bob, said organizers have contacted veterans group to let them know about the Nov. 10 program.

“We have no idea whether 20 (veterans) will show up or 200,” Parkinson said. “It should be quite moving.”
Additionally, Wigelsworth said the traditional “group carve,” in which all the participating sandsculptors collaborate on sponsor logos and other artwork representative of the Crystal Classic, will be dedicated to veterans.

“We’re going to have a really great show,” he said. “We have the finest natural beach sand for sandsculpting.”

Parkinson said the 24 artists were scheduled to arrive in Sarasota throughout the day Monday. Wigelsworth was hosting a reception for them at his home that night.

Eileen Parkinson and her husband had been out to Siesta Public Beach Monday morning, she said, to observe as county staff moved the sand, “creating the huge piles” from which the sculptors will carve their entries. A couple of non-competing sandsculptors were helping direct the bulldozers, Eileen Parkinson added.

Along with the Nov. 10 event for veterans, she said, the amateur sandsculpting event on Sunday, which will be judged by the master sculptors, also has been drawing considerable attention. Registration for that event begins at 8 a.m.; the sculpting will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m.

The $18,000 in prize money for the master sculptors will be awarded during a 3 p.m. ceremony Sunday.
The Vendor Village, offering a selection of food, beverages, specialty retail items and arts and crafts will be open Friday through Sunday. Artwork also will be made available Monday.

“It’s just very exciting to have the entire community come together to create this event on the beach,” Parkinson said.

In coming years, Wigelsworth hopes the Crystal Classic can join forces with the Chalk Festival, which concluded Sunday.

“I can see Sarasota being a real ephemeral arts center,” he said.

TributeAt 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, the 2011 Siesta Key Crystal Classic Master Sandsculpting Competition will kick off on Siesta Public Beach with a military color guard, the singing of the national anthem by opera star and Temple Beth Sholom cantor Jeffrey Weber and remarks by County Commission Chairwoman Nora Patterson; Danny Bilyeu, field representative for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Longboat Key; and retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. “Top” Harrison.

The ceremony will include the unveiling of a sand replica of the national Marine Corps monument in Arlington, Va.

The Crystal Classic will remain open until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 10. The event will run through Nov. 14.